So.... many years ago, I built my own DAW. Ordered the parts on line, put it all together and loaded the OS. In the Cakewalk forums at the time, it was common knowledge that XP was one of the more stable platforms to use when running the cakewalk DAWs. I decided to use XP and I had to buy XP online. ( NOTE: This was back around 2008 IIRC 12 years or so ago ) I got Windows XP Pro 32 bit. It was, at the time a rock solid and stable platform to support Sonar X1.

((EDIT: at the time I was running a Dell laptop duo core with Vista as the OS. It was getting full (hard drive) and the programs and plugs were taxing it's ability to run efficiently. So I decided to build a more capable desktop machine ))

That was then, this is now. The DAW I built is still running rock solid and does everything I need. I have kept this machine off line since it was built only putting it on the internet long enough to authorize the new software that required registration, then once that was done, it gets disconnected from the web. It has the most up to date service packs installed. Yeah, it's not supported but who cares.

HOWEVER...... if I was building this same machine today, I would NOT install XP. It is, in fact, too old and limiting for today's computers. It can only address 4G of the memory, and doesn't efficiently handle quad core processors. Today, I would install W-10.

Until my computer dies, I will continue to run the old machine with XP. But when it does finally quit, I will rebuild with the most recent operating system. Of course, I will also have to update ALL my software, plugs, and VST's because they are all 32 bit apps. That will increase my cost to upgrade significantly. So until this DAW starts giving me issues, I will run it until it does.

BTW: Cakewalk Pro is really, really old. I started with Cakewalk Pro 8 running on Windows 95. I can't imagine anyone still running the Pro series of cakewalk as their main DAW in any sort of professional setting. People would take one look and walk out.

While your friend is correct..... his info is extremely outdated. XP was a good choice over a decade ago. Today? Not so much. Use the latest hardware and software.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 04/05/19 03:56 AM.
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